A couple of weeks ago, the Marist Institute came out with a poll for the most annoying phrase in conversation. The word “whatever” won the poll. Runner up words and phrases were “you know”, “it is what it is”, “anyway” and “at the end of the day.” Interesting.
It got me to thinking though about what phrases I use more than anything. And my most used phrase of the moment is “just craziness”. Lately everything is just craziness. The cat batting a pea from the table to the ground to eat it a couple of days ago was just craziness. The wait in the emergency room in Little Rock last Wednesday was just craziness. The antics of a neighbor’s child was just craziness. I never realized how often I say that phrase. Everyone around me must be hitting the roof from annoyance at that phrase.
Of course, it is a vast improvement from my last catchphrase, which I can’t even print here. But still, I do believe I am going overboard on craziness.
In fact, I was watching a movie last night with the cat and the dog and when an actor did this incredible stunt and landed upright, I even shouted out to no one, “that is just craziness!” The look in the dog’s eyes was all it took to realize I’ve got to get a handle on this.
There are words and phrases out there that just drive me over the edge, such as “like” as every other word in a sentence and also using “um” to fill in the void. But the ultimate phrase that used to get my goat is “same difference”. How can it be the same and different? That has to be a paradox. This particular phrase was my pet peeve while growing up. And my brother used to use it all the time just to annoy me. Oh boy did it! I would go off in a rant for many minutes about how something can’t be the same yet different. Guess what. I grew up, figured out what it really meant (imagine that, I went from a know-it-all kid to an adult who still has a lot to learn) and now it doesn’t bother me.
And I’ve noticed that everyone has a catchphrase or word. It’s not just a sit-com gimmick, we all do it. And it can be anything from my co-worker’s overuse of the teen girl phrase, “whatev”, to one of my boyfriend’s many phrases, “live on love”. There are more, but some of them are a little more colorful. There are a couple that make me laugh though, especially when he says them with his hand movements. Even Hunny’s howl can be seen as her special catch phrase.
So, like, the next time, um, someone, you know, uses one of them, like, words that, um, you know, annoy you, don’t give it a second thought, because, like, at the end of the day, it is what it is, like, you know, so whatever and stuff.
Oh man, that is just craziness!
(Lorie Thompson of Heber Springs is the Co-Editor for The Sun-Times. Her column appears here each Friday. Email her at lifestyles@thesuntimes.com)
Heber Springs, Ark. —
